Music reproducing apparatus, music reproducing method and telephone terminal device

ABSTRACT

In a music reproducing apparatus, a timbre data memory has a limited capacity for storing timbre data corresponding to a first number of timbres, which is less than a second number of timbres reserved in a data source. An interface can be operated to transfer the timbre data from the data source to the timbre data memory so that the timbre data memory stores the transferred timbre data. A score data memory stores score data representing a music piece. A tone generator is set with a tone generating parameter derived from the score data stored in the score data memory for generating tones of the music piece. A performance controller interprets the score data to read out timbre data designated by the score data from the timbre data memory for setting the tone generator with the read timbre data so that the tone generator can generate the tones having timbres specified by the score data. Further, a memory monitor detects when a vacant area is created in a limited space of the score data memory upon sequential retrieval of the score data for operating the interface to load another part of the score data into the vacant area, thereby enabling the tone generator to continue the generating of the tones of the music piece.

This application is the National Phase of International ApplicationPCT/JP00/05199 filed 3 Aug. 2000 which designated the U.S. and thatInternational Application was published under PCT Article 21(2) inEnglish.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a music reproducing apparatus and amusic reproducing method suitable for use in a car telephone or portabletelephone.

2. Related Art

In portable telephone systems such as PDC (Personal Digital CellularTelecommunication System) known as analog or digital cellular systems,or PHS (Personal Handy-Phone Systems), a telephone terminal device ringsto alert a user at the time of arrival of a call. Conventionally, thealert was made by beeping sound, but it has recently replaced by amelody because the beeping sound is a kind of noise offensive to theear.

The above-mentioned type of conventional telephone terminal device cangenerate a melody, but the melody is far from satisfactory quality.

To solve this problem, the use of a music piece reproducing apparatuswith an automatic performance function has been considered effective.Such a conventional music piece reproducing apparatus capable ofautomatic performance includes a central processing unit (CPU), a readonly memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM) and a tone generator. Itreproduces a piece of music as follows: The CPU executes an automaticperformance program stored in the ROM to read music data from the ROM orRAM while setting tone generation parameters on the tone generator.

Such a telephone terminal device is required to be compact, low pricedand multi-functional. The built-in CPU must execute various kinds ofoperations such as to process incoming and outgoing calls and make adisplay. In other words, if the music piece reproducing apparatus isused in a portable type of the telephone terminal device, the CPU mustcarry out reproduction of a music piece in addition to other telephonyfunctions, and this requires a high-speed CPU. The higher the processingspeed of the CPU, the more the telephone terminal device costs.

The use of a melody IC with a melody reproducing function is also known.The melody IC is constituted of a tone generator, a sequencer, a ROM forstoring musical score data, and another ROM for storing timbre data.Upon receipt of a music reproduction instruction from the outside, themelody IC reproduces melody tones along musical score data read from themusical score data ROM with timbres read from the timbre data ROM. Ifsuch a melody IC is incorporated into a telephone terminal device, theCPU is not required to perform reproduction of a music piece, and thismakes it possible to use an inexpensive, low-speed CPU.

The melody IC, however, has a small storage capacity for the timbre dataROM. The storage capacity of the timbre data ROM is so small that thenumber of parameters and kinds of timbre data are limited, and thismakes it difficult to generate tones of high quality or a variety oftones.

Further, the melody IC has a small storage capacity for the musicalscore data ROM such that the number of storable music pieces and thelength of a music piece to be reproduced are limited. The storagecapacity of the musical score data ROM is so small that a large amountof music data needed for reproducing a music piece of high qualitycannot be stored, thereby prohibiting all but some melodies of lowquality from being reproduced.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In consideration of these circumstances, it is an object of the presentinvention to provide a music piece reproducing apparatus and a musicpiece reproducing method that enable music pieces to be reproduced witha variety of timbres even though a memory for storing timbre data has asmall storage capacity.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a music piecereproducing apparatus and a music piece reproducing method that enablemusic pieces to be reproduced with a variety of timbres even though amemory for storing music score data has a small storage capacity.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a music piecereproducing apparatus, a music piece reproducing method, and a telephoneterminal device, by which music pieces with tones of high quality can bereproduced even with a low-speed processing unit.

In order to achieve the above noted objects, an inventive musicreproducing apparatus comprises a timbre data memory that has a limitedcapacity for storing timbre data corresponding to a first number oftimbres, which is less than a second number of timbres reserved in adata source, an interface that can be operated to transfer the timbredata from the data source to the timbre data memory so that the timbredata memory stores the transferred timbre data, a score data memory thatstores score data representing a music piece, a tone generator that isset with a tone generating parameter derived from the score data storedin the score data memory for generating tones of the music piece, and aperformance controller that interprets the score data to read out timbredata designated by the score data from the timbre data memory forsetting the tone generator with the read timbre data so that the tonegenerator can generate the tones having timbres specified by the scoredata.

Preferably, the tone generator can concurrently generate a third numberof tones allotted to respective parts of the music piece, which are notmore than the second number of timbres available by the timbre datamemory, and the performance controller reads out timbre datacorresponding to the third member of timbres which are assigned to therespective parts according to the score data.

An inventive electronic apparatus comprises a processor that processesdata to execute a task, a memory device that memorizes data includingmusic data comprised of timbre data and score data to represent musicpieces, and a music reproduction device that operates according to themusic data under control by the processor to reproduce a music piece inassociation with the task executed by the processor, wherein the musicreproduction device comprises a timbre data memory that has a limitedcapacity for storing timbre data corresponding to a first number oftimbres, which is less than a second number of timbres reserved in thememory device, an interface that can be operated to transfer the timbredata from the memory device to the timbre data memory so that the timbredata memory stores the transferred timbre data, a score data memory thatstores score data representing a music piece, a tone generator that isset with a tone generating parameter derived from the score data storedin the score data memory for generating tones of the music piece, and aperformance controller that interprets the score data to read out timbredata designated by the score data from the timbre data memory forsetting the tone generator with the read timbre data so that the tonegenerator can generate the tones having timbres specified by the scoredata.

Preferably, the tone generator can concurrently generate a third numberof tones allotted to respective parts of the music piece, which are notmore than the second number of timbres available by the timbre datamemory, and the performance controller reads out timbre datacorresponding to the third member of timbres which are assigned to therespective parts according to the score data.

Preferably, the inventive electronic apparatus further comprises acommunication device that can communicate with an external database todownload therefrom music data into the memory device.

An inventive telephony terminal apparatus comprises a communication unitthat transmits a signal to a remote location and receives a signal fromthe remote location, and a music reproduction unit that can reproduce amusic piece in association with the signal, wherein the musicreproduction unit comprises a score data memory that memorizes scoredata representing a music piece, a tone generator of a frequencymodulation type settable with parameters for generating harmonics byfrequency modulation to synthesize a tone, and a performance controllerthat sets the tone generator with parameters according to the memorizedscore data for enabling the tone generator to synthesize tones of themusic piece represented by the score data.

Preferably, the music reproduction unit further comprises a timbre datamemory that has a limited capacity for memorizing timbre datacorresponding to a predetermined number of timbres, and the performancecontroller interprets the score data to read out timbre datacorresponding to a timbre designated by the score data from the timbredata memory, and sets the tone generator according to the read timbredata to thereby enable the tone generator to synthesize the tones of themusic piece having the timbre designated by the score data.

Preferably, the music reproduction unit further comprises an interfacethat can transfer data including the timbre data between the musicreproduction unit and other units, the interface being operated fortransferring the timbre data to the music reproduction unit so as toload the timbre data memory.

Preferably, the inventive telephony terminal apparatus further comprisesa central processing unit that treats various data and a memory unitthat reserves various data including music data composed of score dataand timbre data, wherein the interface is operated under control by thecentral processing unit for transferring the timbre data from the memoryunit to the timbre data memory of the music reproduction unit and fortransferring the score data from the memory unit to the score datamemory of the music reproduction unit.

Preferably, the memory unit reserves timbre data corresponding to afirst number of timbres, wherein the timbre data memory of the musicreproduction unit memorizes timbre data being transferred from thememory unit and corresponding to a second number of timbres which areless than the first number of timbres, wherein the tone generator canconcurrently generate a third number of tones allotted to respectiveparts of the music piece, which are not more than the second number oftimbres available by the timbre data memory, and wherein the performancecontroller reads out timbre data from the timbre data memorycorresponding to the third member of timbres which are assigned to therespective parts according to the score data.

Preferably, the communication unit can receive a signal representingeither of the score data and the timbre data so as to download the sameinto the memory unit.

An inventive music reproducing apparatus comprises a score data memorythat has a limited space for storing a part of score data, whichrepresents a music piece and which can be provided from a data source,an interface that can be operated to load the score data from the datasource into the score data memory, a tone generator that is set with avariable parameter derived from the score data for sequentiallygenerating tones of the music piece, a performance controller thatsequentially retrieves the score data from the score data memory so asto set the tone generator with the variable parameter according to theretrieved score data, and a memory monitor that detects when a vacantarea is created in the limited space of the score data memory uponsequential retrieval of the score data for operating the interface toload another part of the score data into the vacant area, therebyenabling the tone generator to continue the generating of the tones ofthe music piece.

Preferably, the inventive music reproducing apparatus further comprisesa timbre data memory that stores timbre data corresponding to a numberof timbres, wherein the performance controller reads out timbre datacorresponding to a timbre designated by the score data from the timbredata memory, and sets the tone generator with the read timbre data,thereby enabling the tone generator to generate the tones of the musicpiece having the designated timbre.

An inventive electronic apparatus comprises a processor that processesdata to execute a task, a memory device that memorizes data includingscore data representative of a music piece, and a music reproductiondevice that operates according to the score data under control by theprocessor to reproduce a music piece in association with the task,wherein the music reproduction device comprises a score data memory thathas a limited space for storing a part of score data, which represents amusic piece and which can be provided from the memory device, aninterface that can be operated to load the score data from the memorydevice into the score data memory, a tone generator that is set withvariable parameter derived from the score data for sequentiallygenerating tones of the music piece, a performance controller thatsequentially retrieves the score data from the score data memory so asto set the tone generator with the variable parameter according to theretrieved score data, and a memory monitor that notifies the processorwhen a vacant area is created in the limited space of the score datamemory upon sequential retrieval of the score data, so that theprocessor operates the interface to load another part of the score datafrom the memory device into the vacant area of the limited space of thescore data memory, thereby enabling the tone generator to continue thegenerating of the tones of the music piece.

Preferably, the inventive electronic apparatus further comprises atimbre data memory that stores timbre data corresponding to a number oftimbres, wherein the performance controller reads out timbre datacorresponding to a timbre designated by the score data from the timbredata memory, and sets the tone generator with the read timbre data,thereby enabling the tone generator to generate the tones of the musicpiece having the designated timbre.

Preferably, the inventive electronic apparatus further comprises acommunication device that can communicate with an external database todownload therefrom score data into the memory device.

According to one aspect of the present invention, timbre datatransferred through the interface are stored into the timbre datastorage means, the storage capacity of which is available only forrequired kinds of timbre data, so that the data amount for parameters inthe timbre data can be large enough to obtain tones of high quality evenif the timbre data storage means has a small storage capacity, therebyreproducing a piece of music with tones of high quality.

Further, among the many kinds of timbre data stored in the storage meansprovided outside the music piece reproducing apparatus, only the timbredata necessary to reproduce a piece of music are transferred to themusic piece reproducing apparatus and stored in the timbre data storagemeans, so that several kinds of timbre data can be selected for toneswith which the piece of music is to be reproduced even though thestorage capacity of the timbre data storage means is small. In addition,if the timbre data are downloaded to an external storage means through acommunication line, a choice of timbre data can be widened.

All the data processing means has to do is to read desired timbre dataand to send the same to the music piece reproducing apparatus; it is notrequired to carry out reproduction of a piece of music. This allowsmusic of high quality to be reproduced even with a low-speed processingunit.

In addition, if the tone generator of the music piece reproducingapparatus provided in a telephone terminal device is adopting afrequency modulating method, the amount of timbre data required for thefrequency modulation type of the tone generator can be extremely reducedcompared to that of a waveform memory type of the tone generator (PCMtone generator). Therefore, even if the timbre data is transmittedthrough a low-speed transmission path, for example, due to low speed ofdata processing by the data processing means, the telephone terminaldevice can reproduce a piece of music with a variety of tones of highquality. Further, since the amount of timbre data is reduced, timbredata enough to reproduce a piece of music with tones of high quality canbe stored even in a timbre data storage means, the storage capacity ofwhich is smaller.

According to another aspect of the present invention, when a vacant areais created in the musical score storing memory, a next portion of themusical score data is subsequently loaded into the memory. By such aconstruction, a music piece of a high quality requiring a great datavolume can be reproduced even though the music score storing memory hasa small capacity.

Further, the CPU is not required to execute the music reproductionprocess, but simply executes a data transfer process of feeding a nextportion of the music score data when a vacant area is yielded in thememory buffering the music score data. Therefore, the CPU of moderatespeed may be sufficient to reproduce the high quality of the melodytones.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

By way of example and to make the description more clear, reference ismade to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the concept of how to download music data toportable telephones when a music piece reproducing apparatus of thepresent invention that embodies a music piece reproducing method of thepresent invention is applied to the portable telephones;

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a music piece reproducingapparatus of the present invention that embodies a music piecereproducing method of the present invention when the music piecereproducing apparatus is applied to a portable telephone;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an exemplary configuration of a music piecereproducing unit as practiced in the music piece reproducing apparatusof the present invention that embodies the music piece reproducingmethod of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a musical score data formatused in the music piece reproducing apparatus according to theembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a timbre data format for eighttone colors written in a timbre data storage unit (Voice RAM) in themusic piece reproducing apparatus according to the embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a format of timbre allocationdata used in the music piece reproducing apparatus according to theembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the detailed arrangement of an FIFO in themusic piece reproducing apparatus according to the embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the FIFO in themusic piece reproducing apparatus according to the embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing music piece reproduction supportprocessing executed by a system CPU in a portable telephone to which themusic piece reproducing apparatus of the present invention is applied;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a configuration of a frequency modulationtype of tone generator as an example of the tone generator in the musicpiece reproducing apparatus according to the embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a configuration of another frequencymodulation type of tone generator as an example of the tone generator inthe music piece reproducing apparatus according to the embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a timbre data format foreight tone colors written in the timbre data storage unit (Voice RAM) byusing a frequency modulation type of tone generator as the tonegenerator in the music piece reproducing apparatus according to theembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a detailed format of the timbre data shownin FIG. 12.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the concept of how to download music data toportable telephones as telephone terminal devices when a music piecereproducing apparatus of the present invention that embodies a musicpiece reproducing method of the present invention is applied to theportable telephones.

Systems for portable telephones are typically adopting cellular or cellsplitting methods that install many radio-zones called cells in aservice area. Each radio-zone is managed by one of cell sites or basestations A (2 a) through D (2 d). When users make calls from portabletelephones 1 and 101 as mobile stations to ordinary telephones, thecalls are first connected to a mobile telephone exchange station througha base station that manages the radio-zone to which the portabletelephones now belong, then from the mobile telephone exchange stationto a general telephone network. The portable telephones 1, 101 areconnected through radio channels to the base station responsible for theradio-zone so that they can make calls to other telephones.

FIG. 1 shows an example of this type of cellular system. Shown in FIG. 1is a case where the portable telephones 1, 101 are located within aradio-zone managed by a base station C(2 c) in the base stations A(2 a)through D(2 d). The portable telephones 1, 101 are connected to the basestation 2 c through radio channels so that the base station 2 c willreceive and process upward signals when the telephones make calls orperform location registration. Although the base stations 2 a through 2d are responsible for different radio-zones, the outer edges of the basestations may overlap each other. The base stations 2 a through 2 d areconnected to a mobile exchange station 3 through a multiplexing network,and plural mobile exchange stations are consolidated by a gate exchangestation 5 a. Plural gate exchange stations 4 provided in this system areconnected to each other through a relay transmission line. Generaltelephone exchange stations 5 a, 5 b, 5 c, are located at each localarea with a relay transmission line connecting them. Each of the generaltelephone exchange stations 5 a, 5 b, 5 c, establishes connection withordinary telephones. Then, in this case, a download center 6 isconnected to the general telephone exchange station 5 b.

At the download center 6, new pieces of music are collected at any timeand a large number of music data are stored. According to the presentinvention, music data can be downloaded to the portable telephones 1,101 from the download center 6 that is connected to the generaltelephone network. When the portable telephone 1 downloads music data,the user carrying the portable telephone 1 dials a telephone number ofthe download center 6, so that the portable telephone 1 is connected tothe download center 6 in a path from the portable telephone 1 to thedownload center 6 through the base station 20, the mobile exchangestation 3, the gate exchange station 4, the general telephone exchangestation 5 a and the general telephone exchange station 5 b. Then, theuser operates dial buttons and the like on the portable telephone 1according to the menu indicated on its display to download music dataassociated to a desired music title. In this case, the music data iscomposed of musical score data and timbre data. Using theabove-mentioned method, only the timbre data indicative of a variety oftones or the musical score data may be downloaded to the portabletelephone 1 individually.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a music piece reproducing apparatusof the present invention that embodies a music piece reproducing methodof the present invention when the music piece reproducing apparatus isapplied to a portable telephone as a telephone terminal device.

In FIG. 2, the portable telephone 1 includes an antenna 1 a that isgenerally retractable. The antenna 1 a is connected to a communicationunit 13 having modulation and demodulation functions. A centralprocessing unit (CPU) 10 of the system is a system control part thatexecutes telephone function programs to control the operation of eachpart in the portable telephone 1. The system CPU 10 has a timer thatmeasures an elapsed time in operation and generates a timer interrupt atcertain intervals. Upon receipt of an interrupt request signal, thesystem CPU 10 executes auxiliary operations to support music piecereproduction processing to be described later. A system RAM 11 is a RAM(Random Access Memory) that provides a storage area for music datacomposed of musical score data and timbre data downloaded from thedownload center 6, a user setting data storage area, a work area for thesystem CPU 10, and so on. A system ROM 12 is a ROM (Read Only Memory)that stores several kinds of telephone function programs, such as tohandle outgoing and incoming calls, executed by the system CPU 10, otherprograms for execution of auxiliary operations to the music piecereproduction processing, and several kinds of preset data such asmusical score data and timbre data.

The communication unit 13 serves to demodulate a signal received at theantenna 1 a, and to modulate and supply a sending signal to the antenna1 a. The received signal demodulated at the communication unit 13 isdecoded at a voice data processing unit (coder/decoder) 14. A receiversignal inputted from a microphone 21 is compressed and encoded at thevoice data processing unit 14. The voice data processing unit 14 carriesout highly efficient compressive coding/decoding of transmitting voice;it may be coder/decoder of a CELP (Code Excited LPC) or ADPCM (AdaptiveDifferential PCM Coding) type. A music piece reproducing unit 15generates sound of the receiver signal from the voice data processingunit 14 and issues the same from a receiver speaker 22, or reproducesand outputs music data as a calling or holding tone. The calling tone isissued from a speaker 23 for incoming calls. The holding tone is mixedwith the receiver signal and issued from the receiver speaker 22.

Suppose that the music piece reproducing unit 15 is reproducing musicdata. If there occurs a certain amount of available space in an innerstorage means for the musical score data, the music piece reproducingunit 15 gives the system CPU 10 an interrupt request signal (IRQ). Uponreceipt of the interrupt request signal (IRQ), the system CPU 10 reads anext continued part of music score data from the system RAM 11 or thesystem ROM 12, and transfers the read data to the music piecereproducing unit 15. An interface (I/F) 16 is an interface through whichmusic data composed of musical score data and timbre data are downloadedfrom external equipment 20 such as a personal computer. An input unit 17is an input means with dial buttons from ‘0’ to ‘9’ and several otherbuttons provided on the portable telephone 1. A display unit 18 is amonitor display that shows a menu of telephone functions and otherinformation changed according to button operations such as to operatedial buttons. A vibrator 19 is to inform the user of arrival of a callby silent vibration instead of calling sound. Each functional blocksends and receives data and instructions through a bus 24.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary configuration of the music piecereproducing unit 15 shown in FIG. 2.

In FIG. 3, an interface 30 is to receive several kinds of data throughthe bus 24. The interface 30 separates received data containing musicalscore data and timbre data from index data (INDEX) indicative of whatdata is received. The interface 30 outputs the data part from a dataoutput and index data from an index output. An FIFO (First-In First-Out)buffer 31 is a storage means capable of storing a certain amount ofmusical score data, for example, up to 32 words. The musical score datais read out of the FIFO 31 sequentially from the earliest written part,and when there occurs a certain amount of available area in the FIFO 31,the FIFO 31 sends the system CPU 10 the interrupt request signal (IRQ).

An index decoder 32 decodes the index data, and supplies the FIFO 31with a write pulse (WP) and a latch pulse (LP) for IRQ point data to bedescribed later. The index decoder 32 also supplies a sequencer 33 withindex data AD1 to inform the sequencer 33 that the data directed to thesequencer 33 has been outputted from the data output of the interface30. Further, the index decoder 32 supplies a timbre data storage unit(Voice RAM) 34 with index data AD2 to inform the timbre data storageunit (Voice RAM) 34 that the timbre data directed to the timbre datastorage unit (Voice RAM) 34 has been outputted from the data output ofthe interface 30. The sequencer 33 applies a read pulse to the FIFO 31to read the musical score data sequentially from the FIFO 31 whilesetting a tone generation parameter s on a tone generator 35 along themusical score data in synchronism with time information of the musicalscore data. The sequencer 33 also supplies the timbre data storage unit(Voice RAM) 34 with a timbre number for each part specified by timbreallocation data fetched from the data output of the interface 30 so thattimbre parameters corresponding to the timbre number are read out of thetimbre data storage unit (Voice RAM) 34 and set for each part on thetone generator 35.

The timbre data storage unit (Voice RAM) 34 is a storage means thatstores timbre data fetched from the data output of the interface 30; ithas such a small storage capacity, for example, that it can store onlytimbre data of eight tone colors. The tone generator 35 can generatemusic signals, for example, for four parts at the same time. For eachpart, a timbre read out of the timbre data storage unit (Voice RAM) 34is set according to the timbre allocation data so that each part willgenerate a music signal with the pitch and the duration of tonegeneration determined according to the timbre parameters supplied fromthe sequencer 33. The music signals generated for four parts aresupplied to a digital/analog converter (DAC) 36 at predeterminedreproduction timing to generate an analog music signal. The music signalis then decoded at the voice data processing unit 14 and mixed with areceiver signal by means of a mixer 37.

The following describes the operation of the music piece reproducingunit shown in FIG. 3. The user carrying the portable telephone 1 asshown in FIG. 2 selects a desired piece of music from informationrelated to music such as music titles displayed on the display 18 in amusic piece reproducing mode. Then, music data corresponding to theselected piece are read out of the system RAM 11 and sent to the musicpiece reproducing unit 15 through the bus 24. Of the timbre data ofeight tone colors in the music data fetched through the interface 30,index data attached to the timbre data are decoded at the index decoder32 and supplied and written as index data AD2 to the timbre data storageunit (Voice RAM) 34. The timbre data to be written to the timbre datastorage unit (Voice RAM) 34 can be selected from many kinds of timbredata stored in the system RAM 11 before transfer.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a timbre data format for eight tonecolors written in the timbre data storage unit (Voice RAM) 34. As shownin FIG. 5, timbre data from timbre 1 to timbre 8 are each composed of awaveform parameter, an envelope parameter, a modulation parameter and aneffect parameter. Each parameter is peculiar to each of tone 1 to tone8. The waveform parameter of each timbre data indicates a waveform ofthe music piece. For example, if the tone generator 35 is a PCM tonegenerator having a waveform table, the waveform parameter is to specifyone of waveforms on the waveform table. If the tone generator 35 is anFM tone generator, the waveform parameter is to specify the algorithmthat defines specific FM operations. The envelope parameter includes anattack rate, a decay rate, a sustain level and a release rate. Themodulation parameter includes the depth or velocity of a vibrato ortremolo. The effect parameter includes a reverb, a chorus and avariation.

Tempo data (Tempo) and timbre allocation data in the music data fetchedthrough the interface 30 are taken into the sequencer 33 by the indexdecoder 32 supplying the sequencer 33 with index data attached to thetempo data and the timbre allocation data as index data AD1. Thesequencer 33 reads out of the timbre data storage unit (Voice RAM) 34the timbre parameters specified by the timbre allocation data fetched,and sets the same on the tone generator 35. FIG. 6 illustrates anexample of the timbre allocation data configuration. As shown in FIG. 6,tones allocated for part 1 to part 4 are indicated by timbre numbers. Inother words, when the sequencer 33 supplies the timbre number specifiedfor each part to the timbre data storage means 34, timbre parameterscorresponding to the timbre number are read out of the timbre datastorage means 34, and set on the tone generator 35 as a tone for eachpart.

It should be noted that the timbre data for music data to be reproducedare transferred to and written into the timbre data storage unit (VoiceRAM) 34. Therefore, even if the timbre data storage unit (Voice RAM) 34has such a small storage capacity that it can store only timbre data ofeight tone colors in this embodiment, all the timbre data necessary forreproduction of the music data can be stored in the timbre data storageunit (Voice RAM) 34. In other words, even if the timbre data storageunit (Voice RAM) 34 has a small storage capacity, a piece of music withhigh sound quality can be reproduced based on the timbre data of highquality with an increased data amount. Further, since desired timbredata are selected from the system RAM 11 and written into the timbredata storage unit (Voice RAM) 34, a piece of music with a variety oftones can be reproduced. It should be noted that the timbre allocationdata and the tempo data can be edited by the user.

32 words of musical score data in the music data fetched through theinterface 30 are written into the FIFO 31 by the index decoder 32decoding the index data attached to the musical score data and supplyinga write pulse (WP) to the FIFO 31. The 32-word musical score data arethus written into the FIFO 31. The 32 words are part of musical scoredata of a piece of music; they are considered to be the top block of themusical score data. The musical score data written in the FIFO 31 arecomposed of note data and rest data. FIG. 4 illustrates an example ofsuch a data format. FIG. 4 shows one word of note data that includesinformation on an octave code, a note code, a part number to which thenote data belong, an interval indicative of a time length to the nextnote or rest, and the duration of tone generation. FIG. 4 also shows oneword of rest data that includes rest data indicative of the kind ofrest, a part number to which the rest data belong, and an intervalindicative of a time length to the next note or rest.

When the tone generator 35 reproduces a piece of music, the note dataand the rest data are read sequentially from the FIFO 31, and therefore,there occurs a certain amount of vacant area in the FIFO 31 as thesedata are read out one by one. The FIFO 31 has only the top 32-wordmusical score data, but the next part of the musical score data can bewritten into the vacant area. Therefore, even if the musical score datarequires a large amount of data memory area for reproduction of music ofhigh quality, parts or sections of the score data can be writtensequentially into the FIFO 31 as soon as there occurs a certain amountof available space in the FIFO 31, thus reproducing musical score dataof high quality. The music piece reproducing apparatus of the presentinvention carries out reproduction of music data on such a principle ofsetting next words when available area in the FIFO 31 occurs at thetiming of writing the next part of the musical score data. The IRQ pointdata is set to give the system CPU 10 an interrupt request signal (IRQ)that instructs the system CPU 10 to write the subsequent part of musicalscore data into the FIFO 31. The IRQ point data is set prior to thestart of reproduction. If the IRQ point data is set near 0 word,interrupt frequencies increase but the number of words to be written ata time is reduced, resulting in a decrease in load on the system CPU 10.If the IRQ point data is set near 32 words, interrupt frequencies arereduced but the number of words to be written at a time increases,resulting in an increase in load on the system CPU 10. Therefore, it ispreferable to set the IRQ point data according to the processing speedof the system CPU 10.

Then, when the system CPU 10 instructs the music piece reproducing unit15 to start reproduction of music data, the sequencer 33 applies a readpulse to the FIFO 31 to read the musical score data sequentially fromthe FIFO 31. If the current musical data are note data, the sequencer 33sets on the tone generator 35 pitch data of an octave code and a notecode in the musical score data, part specifying information, and dataspecifying ‘key-on’ at timing based on the set tempo and intervalinformation. The tone generator 35 generates a musical sound with apitch specified based on the timbre parameters set for the partspecified from the data set in the tone generator register. Then, whentime corresponding to the duration of tone generation for the note datahas been elapsed, the sequencer 33 sets on the tone generator 35 key-offdata with specifying the corresponding part of the music piece. Then,the tone generator 35 silences the musical sound. Such a sequence ofoperations are repeated each time the musical score data are read out ofthe FIFO 31, so that the music signals reproduced from the tonegenerator 35 are outputted to the DAC 36.

As the piece of music is reproducing, the interrupt request signal (IRQ)is given to the system CPU 10 each time an available area detected inthe FIFO 31 becomes equal to the IRQ point data value. Upon receipt ofthe IRQ, the system CPU 10 reads the next musical score data for apredetermined number of words (31-IRQ point) from the system RAM 11, andsends the same to the bus 24. The musical score data are written intothe available area in the FIFO 31 through the interface 30. Such writeoperation as to write the next musical score data for the predeterminednumber of words (31-IRQ point) into the FIFO 31 is repeatedly executed.Therefore, even if the musical score data contain many words of data,all the data words can be written in the FIFO 31 after all. The musicalscore data read out of the FIFO 31 are then reproduced and outputtedfrom the tone generator 35 according to the tempo data. Thus, accordingto the present invention, a large amount of music data can be treatedthat allow the music piece to be reproduced with high quality even in acase where the FIFO 31 has such a small storage capacity, for example,only 32 words of music data.

Suppose that the music piece reproducing unit 15 is set to reproduce apiece of music when a call arrives at the portable telephone 1. When acall arrives at the portable telephone 1, the above-mentioned musicpiece reproduction processing is so executed that a music signaloutputted from the DAC 36 will be issued from the speaker 23 as acalling tone. Suppose further that the music piece reproducing unit 15is set to reproduce a piece of music as a holding tone when the usercarrying the portable telephone 1 places a conversation on hold. Whenthe portable telephone 1 is changed to a holding mode, theabove-mentioned music piece reproduction processing is so executed thata music signal outputted from the DAC 36 will be issued from the speaker22 as a holding tone. Simultaneously, the music signal outputted fromthe tone generator 35 are also supplied to the voice data processingunit 14 and sent through the communication unit 13 for the purpose oftransmitting the holding tone.

FIG. 7 illustrates the detailed arrangement of the FIFO 31. Referringalso to FIG. 8, the following describes the operation of the FIFO 31.When the IRQ point data is outputted from the interface 30, a latchpulse (LP) is supplied from the index decoder 32 to a latch circuit 43,and as a result, the IRQ point data, for example, set to “15” in thelatch circuit 43 is latched. Then, when the musical score data areoutputted from the interface 30, the index decoder 32 applies a writepulse (WP) to a write address counter 41 and the up terminal of anup/down counter 45. The write pulse (WP) is generated each time one wordof the musical score data is outputted. In its initial state, the writepulses make progress in the write address counter 41 sequentially from“0” to “31,” so that the top 32 words of musical score data are storedin a RAM 40 that has a storage capacity of at least 32 words.Simultaneously, the up/down counter 45 counts up from “0” to “31.” FIG.8( a) shows this state as the start of the first execution. Finally, theRAM 40 reaches the “FULL” state in which the write address W comes tothe address “31” and the read address R remains in the address “0.”

Under this circumstance, when the start of reproduction of the musicdata is instructed, the sequencer 33 starts making progress whileapplying a read pulse (Read) to the read address counter 42 so as tostart reading the musical score data sequentially from the top onelocated at the address “0” on the RAM 40. The read pulse (Read) is alsoapplied to the down terminal of the up/down counter 45. Thus, theup/down counter 45 counts up each time the write pulse (WP) is applied,and counts down each time the read pulse (Read) is applied.

FIG. 8( b) shows a state of the RAM in which 16 words of the musicalscore data have been read out and reproduced. Since 16 words of themusical score data have been read out, it is apparent that the readaddress counter 42 is at the address “15” and the counter value of theup/down counter 45 is (31−16)=15. As mentioned above, the IRQ point datalatched in the latch circuit 43 is “15,” and as a result, a comparisoncircuit 44 detects that the counter value of the up/down counter 45 andthe IRQ point data value of the latch circuit 43 match with each other.Then, the comparison circuit 44 outputs an interrupt request signal(IRQ) to the system CPU 10. Upon receipt of the IRQ, the system CPU 10reads the next 16 words (31-IRQ point) of the musical score data fromthe system RAM 11, and sends the same to the bus 24.

The musical score data sent to the bus 24 are written from the addresses“0” to “15” that are now available on the RAM 40. In this case, theindex decoder 32 applies the write pulse (WP) to the write addresscounter 41 and the up terminal of the up/down counter 45. 16 writepulses (WP) are generated for 16 words, and because of these pulses, thewrite address counter 41 that is set to count up to a modulus of 31makes progress and reaches the address “15” while writing the musicalscore data to each corresponding address. Simultaneously, the up/downcounter 45 is incremented by “16.” However, since the up/down counter 45counts down even in this case due to the read pulses (Read), the countvalue becomes the balance of the write pulses (WP) and the read pulses(Read). FIG. 8( c) shows a state of the RAM in which 16 words of themusical score data have been replenished as seen at the time ofadditional writing of 16 words.

Next, the sequencer 33 applies the read pulses (Read) to the readaddress counter 42, and as a result, 32 words of the musical score dataare read out of the RAM 40. Such a state of the RAM 40 is shown in FIG.8( d). Since the read address counter also counts up to the modulus of31, the read address counter 42 is returned to the address “0” here. Atthis time, since the counter value of the up/down counter 45 is at theaddress “15” again, the comparison circuit 44 outputs the interruptrequest signal (IRQ) again to the system CPU 10. Then, theabove-mentioned operations are so repeated that the subsequent 16 wordsof the musical score data are written into the addresses “16” to “31” onthe RAM 40. Thus, the next 16 words of the musical score data arereplenished until the next 32 words of the musical score data areadditionally written in total. Such a state of the RAM 40 is shown inFIG. 8( e).

As discussed above, 16 words of musical score data are additionallywritten and replenished to the RAM 40 sequentially each time thereoccurs 16 words of available area on the RAM 40. Therefore, even if theRAM 40 has a small storage capacity of at least 32 words, any music datahaving a large amount of musical score data that allow the music data tobe reproduced with high quality can be written sequentially onto the RAM40 while reproducing the same. It should be noted that the counter valueof the up/down counter 45 always matches the number of words of themusical score data that remain stored without being read out of the RAM40.

When reproduced, each part has a timbre allocated according to thetimbre allocation data, or the timbre allocation data for each part maybe inserted in the musical score data beforehand. During reproduction,the timbre allocation data are read out of the FIFO 31, so the sequencer33 supplies the timbre data storage unit (Voice RAM) 34 with a timbrenumber specified by the timbre allocation data. In this case, the timbredata of eight tone colors that are more than the number of parts, so anytimbre can be selected for each part out of eight tone colors of thetimbre data. Timbre parameters corresponding to the timbre number areread out of the timbre data storage unit (Voice RAM) 34, and set in atone generator register of the tone generator 35 for the part specifiedby the timbre allocation data. The timbre of the part concerned to bereproduced on the tone generator 35 is thus changed during thereproduction.

As discussed above, since the timbre allocation data for each part isinserted in the musical score data, the timbre of each part can bevoluntarily changed during the reproduction. Further, the timbre data ofeight tone colors stored in the timbre data storage unit (Voice RAM) 34may be selected by the user out of all the timbre data stored in thesystem RAM 11, so that the selected timbre data can be transferred tothe timbre data storage unit (Voice PAM) 34. Since the system RAM 11 hasmany kinds of timbre data downloaded from the download center 6 or theexternal equipment 20, any timbre data from among the timbre data ofmany kinds can be selectively stored into the timbre data storage unit(Voice RAM) 34.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating music piece reproduction supportprocessing executed by the system CPU 10 during the reproduction of apiece of music. When the portable telephone 1 is changed to the musicpiece reproducing mode, a music piece reproducing menu appears on thedisplay 18. In step S1, the user selects a desired piece of music fromthe music selection menu by operating the dial buttons and the like. Inthis case, the selection is made from music data stored in the systemRAM 11 and the system ROM 12. The system RAM 11 stores music datadownloaded from the download center 6 and the external equipment 20.After the completion of the selection, timbre data and tempo data areset in step S2. In step S2, timbre data of eight tone colors forrespective parts of the selected music data are transferred to the musicpiece reproducing 15 and stored in the timbre data storage unit (VoiceRAM) 34. The tempo data for respective parts of the selected music dataare also transferred to the music piece reproducing unit 15 and set inthe sequencer 33. The tempo data may be edited on the display 18 byoperating the dial buttons and the like.

In step S3, the IRQ point data is set on the display 18 to apredetermined value by operating the dial buttons and the like. The IRQdata is set by taking into account the processing speed of the systemCPU 10. Then, 32 words of musical score data in the selected music dataare read out of the system RAM 11, transferred to the music piecereproducing unit 15, and written into the FIFO 31 until the FIFO 31becomes the “FULL” state.

In the next step S5, the system waits until start operation isinstructed. The start operation is activated at the time of arrival of acall if the music data is to be reproduced as a calling tone, or byoperating the holding button if it is to be reproduced as a holdingtone. If it is determined in step S5 that the start operation isinstructed, the operating procedure goes to step S6 in which a startcommand is forwarded to the music piece reproducing unit 15.

If not determined that the start operation is instructed, it branches tostep S11 in which it is determined whether a button to instruct thestart of reproduction is operated. If it is determined that the buttonis operated, the operating procedure returns to step S1 so that theoperations from step S1 to step S4 are repeated. If not determined thatthe button is operated, it returns to step S5 and waits until the startoperation is instructed.

Upon receipt of the start command, the music piece reproducing unit 15starts the above-mentioned music piece reproduction processing toreproduce the selected music piece. Then, when it is determined in stepS7 that an interrupt request signal (IRQ) is generated to the musicpiece reproducing unit 15, the operating procedure goes to step S8 inwhich the musical score data for the next (31-IRQ point) words are readout of the system RAM 11 and transferred to the music piece reproducingunit 15. The operations of steps S7 and S8 are repeated until it isdetermined in step S9 that stop operation is instructed. The stopoperation is activated by operating a talk button if the music data hasbeen reproduced as the calling tone, or by operating a holding tonereleasing button if it has been reproduced as the holding tone. If it isdetermined in step S9 that the stop operation is instructed, theoperating procedure goes to step S10 in which a stop command isforwarded to the music piece reproducing unit 15 to instruct the musicpiece reproducing unit 15 to stop the music piece reproductionprocessing. Then, the operating procedure returns to step S5 and waitsuntil the start operation is instructed again.

As discussed above, the music piece reproduction processing to reproducethe selected music piece is executed at the time of arrival of a call ifthe selected music piece is to be reproduced as a calling tone, or byoperating the holding button if it is to be reproduced as the holdingtone. In either case, the music piece to be reproduced is the one thathas been selected in the step of music selection. The music selectionmay be made to select different music pieces for the calling tone andthe holding tone so that both music pieces can be reproducedindependently when the start of either the calling tone or the holdingtone is instructed. Further, since the music selection can be made atany time, any music piece can be selected for both the calling tone andthe holding tone.

It should be noted that the system CPU 10 executes the main processingfor telephony functions, not shown. However, the music piecereproduction support processing only requires such a light load that thesystem CPU 10 can execute the music piece reproduction supportprocessing together with its main processing without the need ofreplacing the system CPU 10 by high-speed one.

Although in this embodiment the FIFO has such a storage capacity that itcan store 32 words of musical score data, the present invention is notlimited to this capacity. The storage capacity of the FIFO 31 can varyas long as it is much smaller than that of the system RAM 11. Further,the timbre data storage unit (Voice RAM) 34 has such a storage capacitythat it can store timbre data of eight tone colors, but it is notlimited to the capacity as well. The capacity of the timbre data storageunit (Voice RAM) 34 can be extremely reduced, compared to that of thesystem RAM 11, as long as the number of tone colors is equal to or morethan the number of parts of the music piece corresponding to channels oftone generation.

As mentioned above, the tone generator 35 in the music piece reproducingunit 15 can be a frequency modulation type of tone generator, i.e., anFM tone generator. The FM tone generator is designed to use out-of-phaseharmonics produced by frequency modulation to synthesize musical sounds;it can generate waveforms having out-of-phase harmonic components likeinharmonic tones in a relatively simple circuit configuration. The FMtone generator has the advantage of generating a wide range of musicalsounds from a synthesized tone to an electronic tone. FIG. 10illustrates an example of such a configuration.

The FM tone generator uses oscillators called operators that oscillateequivalently to generate a sine wave. As shown in FIG. 10, the FM tonegenerator 50 is made of the operator 1 and the operator 2 connected inseries. A sine wave oscillated from the operator 1 is supplied to theoperator 2 as a modulation signal so that the operator 2 generates afrequency modulated wave FM(t). On one hand, the operator 1 is called amodulator 51 because it generates a modulation signal; on the otherhand, the operator 2 is called a carrier 52 because it generates acarrier wave. The operators 1 and 2 are configured in the same manner.

In the modulator 51, a pitch generator 51 c outputs pitch data variablein the form of a sawtooth according to the input of phase angle dataω_(m). Then, the pitch data and modulation data “0” inputted to themodulator 51 are added at an adder 51 a. The output of the adder 51 a issupplied to a sine wave generator 51 b in which a sine wave table isread according to the pitch data outputted from the adder 51 a as thedata that varies in the form of a sawtooth. Then, the sine wavegenerator 51 b generates a sine wave at frequencies corresponding tovaried velocities of the pitch data. The amplitude of the sine wave iscontrolled by amplitude data B generated from an envelope generator 51d. For this reason, the sine wave outputted from the sine wave generator51 b is represented by B·sin ω_(m)t.

In the carrier 52, a pitch generator 52 c outputs pitch data variable inthe form of a sawtooth according to the input of phase angle data ω_(c).Then, the pitch data and the sine wave of modulation signal outputtedfrom the modulator 51 are added at an adder 52 a. The output of theadder 52 a is supplied to a sine wave generator 52 b in which a sinewave table is read according to the added data outputted from the adder52 a. Then, the sine wave generator 52 b generates a sine wave variedaccording to the rate of change in the added data. The amplitude of thesine wave is controlled by amplitude data A generated from an envelopegenerator 52 d. For this reason, the sine wave outputted from the sinewave generator 52 b is represented by A·sin (ω_(c))_(t)+B sin ω_(m)t).Thus, the output FM(t) from the carrier 52 is subjected to frequencymodulation, and the above equations are basic formulas for the FM tonegenerator 50.

As shown in FIG. 10, since the modulator 51 and the carrier 52 have thesame circuit configuration, the frequency modulated wave can begenerated in such a configuration that either of them feeds back itsoutput as its input. This type of FM tone generator is called a feedbackFM tone generator, and an example of such a configuration is shown inFIG. 11.

As shown in FIG. 11, the feedback FM tone generator 60 is constituted ofan operator 61 and a feedback circuit 62. In the operator 61, a pitchgenerator 61 c outputs pitch data variable in the form of a sawtoothaccording to the input of phase angle data ω_(m). Then, the pitch dataand modulation data “0” inputted to the operator 61 are added at anadder 61 a. The output of the adder 61 a is supplied to a sine wavegenerator 61 b in which a sine wave table is read according to the addeddata outputted from the adder 61 a. Then, the sine wave generator 61 bgenerates a sine wave varied according to the rate of change in theadded data. The amplitude of the sine wave is controlled by amplitudedata B generated from an envelope generator 61 d. The output of the sinewave generator 61 b is so controlled that a feedback rate β can beobtained in a feedback circuit 62. Then, it is inputted to the adder 61a as a modulation signal. The sine wave generator 61 b thus outputs anoutput FM(t) that is subjected to frequency modulation.

The feedback FM tone generator 60 is suitable for generation of a stringtype of music sound. The FM tone generators 50 and 60 can generatemusical sounds of different tones by changing the way or method toconnect the circuits on an operator basis. The method of connectingoperators is called the algorithm.

In the above-described FM tone generators, the tone can vary bycontrolling the pitch data varied in the form of a sawtooth andoutputted from the pitch generator, by controlling the amplitudeoutputted from the envelope generator, or by changing the algorithm.Timbre data for obtaining desired tone colors on the FM tone generatorsconsist of timbre data for the modulator and timbre data for thecarrier. The amount of data for one tone color can be extremely reducedcompared to that of the waveform memory type of tone generator.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a timbre data format for eight tonecolors written in the timbre data storage unit (Voice RAM) 34 when thetone generator 35 assumes the form of an FM tone generator. Timbre dataof eight tone colors, such as timbre 1, timbre 2, . . . written in thetimbre data storage unit (Voice RAM) 34 each contain timbre data for themodulator and timbre data for the carrier. Both timbre data for themodulator and the carrier assume the same data format. An example ofsuch a data format is shown in FIG. 13. As shown in FIG. 13, each timbredata for the modulator or the carrier may be 32 bits of data containingthe following: three bits of multiple setting data (ML2–ML0), a bit ofvibrato ON/OFF data (VIB), a bit of envelope waveform type data (EGT), abit of sustain ON/OFF data (SUS), four bits of attack rate setting data(AR3–AR0), four bits of decay rate setting data (DR3–DR0), four bits ofsustain level setting data (SL3–SL0), four bits of release rate settingdata (RR3–RR0), a bit of waveform selecting data (WAV), three bits offeedback amount setting data (FL2–FL0), and six bits of total level data(TL5–TL0).

The multiple setting data (ML2–ML0) are adopted to set an oscillatorfrequency magnification. The pitch generator generates pitch data with arate of change multiplied by the magnification specified by the multiplesetting data. The magnification set by the multiple setting data mayrange from ±0.5 to ±7, and if the multiple setting data is used in themodulator 51, the frequency of the modulation signal is changed to varythe timbre. The vibrato ON/OFF data (VIB) are set to determine whether avibrato is applied or not. The envelope waveform type data (EGT) are setto determine whether the envelope waveform is of an envelope ofsustained sound or an envelope of decayed sound. The sustain ON/OFF data(SUS) are data by which the release rate is changed to another releaserate tilted at a predetermined gentle angle at timing of terminating thelength of tone generation if the sustain ON/OFF data is set ON, or therelease rate becomes a set value at timing of terminating the length oftone generation if the sustain ON/OFF data is set OFF.

The attack rate setting data (AR3–AR0) are used to set the time fromwhen tone generation commences until it reaches the maximum volume. Thetime set by the attack rate setting data may range from 0.0 ms to 38.1sec. The decay rate setting data (DR3–DR0) are used to set the decaytime from when the sound reaches the maximum volume until it falls intothe sustain level. The decay time set by the decay rate setting data mayrange from 4.47 ms to 73.2 sec. The sustain level setting data (SL3–SL0)are used to set a sustain level when the envelope waveform is determinedby the envelope waveform type data (EGT) to be sustain sound.

In the case of decayed sound, the release rate setting data (RR3–RR0)sets the decay time from the sustain level to the timing at which thelength of the tone generation is terminated, and after the timing ofterminating the duration of the tone generation, it is decayed at apredetermined sharp angle of tilt. In the case of sustained sound, therelease rate setting data sets the decay rate from the timing ofterminating the tone generation. The decay rate set by the release ratesetting data may range from 4.47 ms to 73.2 sec.

The waveform selection data (WAV) are set to determine whether thewaveform generated by the sine wave generator is a sine wave or ahalf-wave rectified sine wave. The feedback amount setting data(FL2–FL0) are used to set a feedback factor for the feedback FM tonegenerator shown in FIG. 11; they are effective for the carrier operatoralone. Therefore, it is desirable to set the data in the carrier so asto generate a string type of tone. The feedback amount setting data maybe represented as time ranging from 0 to 4π. The total level data(TL5–TL0) are designed to set the total volume.

If the tone generator 35 is thus configured as an FM tone generator, forexample, timbre data of one tone color can be represented as a pair of32-bit (32×2 bits) data consisting of 32-bit timbre data for themodulator and 32-bit timbre data for carrier. Since the amount of timbredata for eight tone colors to be stored in the timbre data storage unit(Voice RAM) 34 can be reduced to 8×(32×2) bits, i.e., 64 bytes, the useof the FM tone generator as the tone generator 35 has the advantage ofreducing the storage capacity of the timbre data storage unit (VoiceRAM) 34. Further, even if the transfer rate of timbre data to the timbredata storage unit (Voice RAM) 34 is low, since the amount of timbre datafor eight tone colors is reduced, the timbre data can be transferred ina very short time. Therefore, even if the processing speed of the CPU 10is slow, a music piece of several tones can be reproduced with highquality. Furthermore, timbre data can be downloaded from the downloadcenter 6 in a short time because of a small amount of timbre data pertone color. The amount of timbre data per tone color may be a fewk-bytes for the waveform memory type of tone generator (PCM tonegenerator). Therefore, it is apparent that the use of an FM tonegenerator allows the amount of timbre data per tone color to be greatlyreduced compared to that for the waveform memory type of tone generator.

Although the use of an FM tone generator is described here, the presentinvention is not limited thereto, and other types of tone generator,such as tone generators of the waveform memory type (PCM tone generator)and of physical model type, can be used as the tone generator 35 in themusic piece reproducing apparatus of the present invention.

Further, the tone generator may also be composed of either hardwareusing a DSP or the like or software implementing a tone generatorprogram. Furthermore, the musical score data are formatted as shown inFIG. 4, but the present invention is not limited to this format. Forexample, the musical score data may be transferred as a MIDI file withtime information or an SMF (standard MIDI file).

As described above, according to one aspect of the present invention,timbre data transferred through the interface means are stored into thetimbre data storage means, the storage capacity of which is availableonly for necessary kinds of timbre data, so that the data amount forparameters in the timbre data can be large enough to obtain tones ofhigh quality even if the timbre data storage means has a small storagecapacity, thereby reproducing a piece of music with tones of highquality.

Further, among the many kinds of timbre data stored in the storage meansprovided outside the music piece reproducing means, only the timbre datanecessary to reproduce a piece of music are transferred to the musicpiece reproducing means and stored in the timbre data storage means, sothat several kinds of timbre data can be selected with which the pieceof music is reproduced even though the storage capacity of the timbredata storage means is small. In addition, if the timbre data aredownloaded to an external storage means through a communication line, achoice of timbre data can be widened.

All the data processing means has to do is to read desired timbre dataand to send the same to the music piece reproducing means; it is notrequired to carry out reproduction of a piece of music. This allowsmusic of high quality to be reproduced even with a low-speed processingunit.

In addition, if the tone generator of the music piece reproducing meansprovided in a telephone terminal device is adopting a frequencymodulating method, the amount of timbre data required for the frequencymodulation type of tone generator can be extremely reduced as comparedto that of a waveform memory type of tone generator (PCM tonegenerator). Therefore, even if the timbre data is transmitted through alow-speed transmission path, for example, due to low speed of dataprocessing by the data processing unit, the telephone terminal devicecan reproduce a piece of music with a variety of tones of high quality.Further, since the amount of timbre data is reduced, timbre data enoughto reproduce a piece of music with tones of high quality can be storedeven in a timbre data storage means, the storage capacity of which issmall. Furthermore, timbre data can be downloaded from the downloadcenter in a short time because of a small amount of timbre data per tonecolor.

According to another aspect of the present invention, when a vacant areais created in the musical score storing memory, a next portion of themusical score data is subsequently loaded into the memory. By such aconstruction, a music piece of a high quality requiring a great datavolume can be reproduced even though the music score storing memory hasa small capacity. A music piece having a long play time can bereproduced without interruption.

Further, the CPU is not required to execute the music reproductionprocess, but simply executes a data transfer process of feeding a nextportion of the music score data when a vacant area is yielded in thememory buffering the music score data. Therefore, the CPU of moderatespeed may be sufficient to reproduce the high quality of the melodytones.

1. A telephony terminal apparatus comprising: a communication unit thattransmits a signal to a remote location and receives a signal from theremote location; a memory unit that stores data including score datawhich represents a music piece; and a music reproduction unit that canreproduce a music piece in association with the signal, wherein themusic reproduction unit includes: a score data memory that has a limitedspace for storing a part of score data, which represents a music pieceand which can be provided from the memory unit; an interface that can beoperated to load the score data from the memory unit into the score datamemory; a tone generator of a frequency modulation type settable withparameters for generating harmonics by frequency modulation tosynthesize a tone; a performance controller that sequentially retrievesthe score data from the score data memory so as to set the tonegenerator with the parameters according to the retrieved score data; anda memory monitor that detects when a vacant area is created in thelimited space of the score data memory upon sequential retrieval of thescore data for operating the interface to load another part of the scoredata into the vacant area, thereby enabling the tone generator tocontinue the synthesizing of the tones of the music piece.
 2. Thetelephony terminal apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the musicreproduction unit further includes a timbre data memory that has alimited capacity for storing timbre data corresponding to apredetermined number of timbres, so that the tone generator uses thetimbre data stored in the timbre data memory for generating harmonics byfrequency modulation to synthesize the tones of the music piece.
 3. Thetelephony terminal apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the interfacecan transfer data including the timbre data between the musicreproduction unit and the memory unit, the interface being operated fortransferring the timbre data to the music reproduction unit so as toload the timbre data into the timbre data memory.
 4. The telephonyterminal apparatus according to claim 3, further including a centralprocessing unit that treats various data, wherein the interface isoperated under control by the central processing unit for transferringthe timbre data from the memory unit to the timbre data memory of themusic reproduction unit and for transferring the score data from thememory unit to the score data memory of the music reproduction unit. 5.The telephony terminal apparatus according to claim 4, wherein thecommunication unit can receive a signal representing either of the scoredata and the timbre data so as to download the same into the memoryunit.
 6. A music reproducing apparatus for use in a telephony terminalapparatus having a telephony function of transmitting a signal to aremote location and receiving a signal from the remote location, themusic reproducing apparatus being used to reproduce a music piece inassociation with the telephony function, and comprising: a score datamemory that has a limited space for storing a part of score data, whichrepresents a music piece and which can be provided from a data source ofthe telephony terminal apparatus; an interface that can be operated toload the score data from the data source into the score data memory; atone generator that is set with a variable parameter derived from thescore data for sequentially generating tones of the music piece; aperformance controller that sequentially retrieves the score data fromthe score data memory so as to set the tone generator with the variableparameter according to the retrieved score data; and a memory monitorthat detects when a vacant area is created in the limited space of thescore data memory upon sequential retrieval of the score data foroperating the interface to load another part of the score data into thevacant area, thereby enabling the tone generator to continue thegenerating of the tones of the music piece.
 7. The music reproducingapparatus according to claim 6, further including a timbre data memorythat stores timbre data corresponding to a number of timbres, whereinthe performance controller reads out timbre data corresponding to adesignated timbre by the score data from the timbre data memory, andsets the tone generator with the read timbre data, thereby enabling thetone generator to generate the tones of the music piece having thedesignated timbre.
 8. A telephony terminal apparatus comprising: aprocessor that processes data to execute a task with a telephonyfunction of transmitting a signal to a remote location and receiving asignal from the remote location; a memory device that stores dataincluding score data representative of a music piece; a musicreproduction device that operates according to the score data undercontrol by the processor to reproduce a music piece in association withthe task, wherein the music reproduction device includes: a score datamemory that has a limited space for storing a part of the score data,which represents a music piece and which can be provided from the memorydevice; an interface that can be operated to load the score data fromthe memory device into the score data memory; a tone generator that isset with a variable parameter derived from the score data forsequentially generating tones of the music piece; a performancecontroller that sequentially retrieves the score data from the scoredata memory so as to set the tone generator with the variable parameteraccording to the retrieved score data; and a memory monitor thatnotifies the processor when a vacant area is created in the limitedspace of the score data memory upon sequential retrieval of the scoredata, so that the processor operates the interface to load another partof the score data from the memory device into the vacant area of thelimited space of the score data memory, thereby enabling the tonegenerator to continue the generating of the tones of the music piece. 9.The telephony terminal apparatus according to claim 8, further includinga timbre data memory that stores timbre data corresponding to a numberof timbres, wherein the performance controller reads out timbre datacorresponding to a designated timbre by the score data from the timbredata memory, and sets the tone generator with the read timbre data,thereby enabling the tone generator to generate the tones of the musicpiece having the designated timbre.
 10. The telephony terminal apparatusaccording to claim 8, further including a communication device that cancommunicate with an external database to download therefrom the scoredata into the memory device.
 11. A method of reproducing a music pieceby a telephony terminal apparatus having a communication unit thattransmits a signal to a remote location and receives a signal from theremote location, a memory unit that stores data including score datawhich represents a music piece, and a music reproduction unit that canreproduce a music piece in association with the signal, the methodcomprising the steps of: providing the music reproduction unit with ascore data memory that has a limited space for storing a part of scoredata, which represents a music piece and which can be provided from thememory unit; providing the music reproduction unit with an interfacethat can be operated to load the score data from the memory unit intothe score data memory; providing the music reproduction unit with a tonegenerator of a frequency modulation type settable with parameters forgenerating harmonics by frequency modulation to synthesize a tone;sequentially retrieving the score data from the score data memory forsetting the tone generator with the parameters according to theretrieved score data; and detecting when a vacant area is created in thelimited space of the score data memory upon sequential retrieval of thescore data for operating the interface to load another part of the scoredata into the vacant area, thereby enabling the tone generator tocontinue the synthesizing of the tones of the music piece.
 12. A methodof reproducing a music piece in a telephony terminal apparatus having atelephony function of transmitting a signal to a remote location andreceiving a signal from the remote location, comprising the steps of:providing a score data memory that has a limited space capable ofstoring a part of score data, which represents a music piece and whichcan be provided from a data source of the telephony terminal apparatus;operating an interface to load the score data from the data source intothe score data memory; setting a tone generator with a variableparameter derived from the score data for sequentially generating tonesof the music piece in association with the telephony function;sequentially retrieving the score data from the score data memory so asto set the tone generator with the variable parameter according to theretrieved score data; and detecting when a vacant area is created in thelimited space of the score data memory upon sequential retrieval of thescore data for operating the interface to load another part of the scoredata into the vacant area, thereby enabling the tone generator tocontinue the generating of the tones of the music piece.
 13. A method ofreproducing a music piece from a telephony terminal apparatus having aprocessor that processes data to execute a task with a telephonyfunction of transmitting a signal to a remote location and receiving asignal from the remote location, a memory device that stores dataincluding score data representative of music piece and a musicreproduction device that operates according to the score data undercontrol by the processor to reproduce a music piece in association withthe task, the method comprising the steps of: providing the musicreproduction device with a score data memory that has a limited spacecapable of storing a part of the score data, which represents a musicpiece and which can be provided from a memory device; operating aninterface to load the score data from the memory device into the scoredata memory; setting a tone generator of the music reproduction devicewith a variable parameter derived from the score data for sequentiallygenerating tones of the music piece; sequentially retrieving the scoredata from the score data memory so as to set the tone generator with thevariable parameter according to the retrieved score data; and notifyingthe processor when a vacant area is created in the limited space of thescore data memory upon sequential retrieval of the score data, so thatthe processor operates the interface to load another part of the scoredata from the memory device into the vacant area of the limited space ofthe score data memory, thereby enabling the tone generator to continuethe generating of the tones of the music piece.
 14. A machine readablemedium for use in a telephony terminal apparatus having a centralprocessing unit, a communication unit that transmits a signal to aremote location and receives a signal from the remote location, a memoryunit that stores data including score data which represents a musicpiece, and a music reproduction unit that can reproduce a music piece inassociation with the signal, the medium containing program instructionsexecutable by the central processing unit for causing the telephonyterminal apparatus to perform a method comprising the steps of:allotting the music reproduction unit with a score data memory that hasa limited space for storing a part of score data, which represents amusic piece and which can be provided from the memory unit; providingthe music reproduction unit with an interface that can be operated toload the score data from the memory unit into the score data memory;providing the music reproduction unit with a tone generator of afrequency modulation type settable with parameters for generatingharmonics by frequency modulation to synthesize a tone; sequentiallyretrieving the score data from the score data memory for setting thetone generator with the parameters according to the retrieved scoredata; and detecting when a vacant area is created in the limited spaceof the score data memory upon sequential retrieval of the score data foroperating the interface to load another part of the score data into thevacant area, thereby enabling the tone generator to continue thesynthesizing of the tones of the music piece.
 15. A machine readablemedium for use in a music reproducing apparatus having a processorinside a telephony terminal apparatus having a telephony function oftransmitting a signal to a remote location and receiving a signal fromthe remote location, the music reproducing being used to reproduce amusic piece in association with the telephony function, the mediumcontaining program instructions executable by the processor for causingthe music reproducing apparatus to perform a method comprising the stepsof: providing a score data memory that has a limited space capable ofstoring a part of score data, which represents a music piece and whichcan be provided from a data source of the telephony terminal apparatus;operating an interface to load the score data from the data source intothe score data memory; setting a tone generator with a variableparameter derived from the score data for sequentially generating tonesof the music piece; sequentially retrieving the score data from thescore data memory so as to set the tone generator with the variableparameter according to the retrieved score data; and detecting when avacant area is created in the limited space of the score data memoryupon sequential retrieval of the score data for operating the interfaceto load another part of the score data into the vacant area, therebyenabling the tone generator to continue the generating of the tones ofthe music piece.
 16. A machine readable medium for use in a telephonyterminal apparatus having a processor that processes data to execute atask with a telephony function of transmitting a signal to a remotelocation and receiving the signal from the remote location, a memorydevice that stores data including score data representative of a musicpiece and a music reproduction device that operates according to thescore data under control by the processor to reproduce a music piece inassociation with the task, the medium containing program instructionsexecutable by the processor for causing the telephony terminal apparatusto perform a method comprising the steps of: allotting the musicreproduction device with a score data memory that has a limited spacecapable of storing a part of the score data, which represents a musicpiece and which can be provided from the memory device; operating aninterface to load the score data from the memory device into the scoredata memory; setting a tone generator of the music reproduction devicewith a variable parameter derived from the score data for sequentiallygenerating tones of the music piece; sequentially retrieving the scoredata from the score data memory so as to set the tone generator with thevariable parameter according to the retrieved score data; and notifyingthe processor when a vacant area is created in the limited space of thescore data memory upon sequential retrieval of the score data, so thatthe processor operates the interface to load another part of the scoredata from the memory device into the vacant area of the limited space ofthe score data memory, thereby enabling the tone generator to continuethe generating of the tones of the music piece.
 17. A music reproducingapparatus for use in a telephony terminal apparatus having a telephonyfunction of transmitting a signal to a remote location and receiving asignal from the remote location, the music reproducing apparatus beingused to reproduce a music piece in association with the telephonyfunction, and comprising: a timbre data memory that has a limitedcapacity for storing timbre data corresponding to a predetermined numberof timbres; an interface that can be operated to transfer the timbredata from a data source to the timbre data memory so that the timbredata memory stores the transferred timbre data; a score data memory thatstores score data representing a music piece; a tone generator that isset with tone generating parameters derived from the score data storedin the score data memory and the timbre data stored in the timbre datamemory for generating tones of the music piece; and a performancecontroller that sets the tone generator with the tone generatingparameters according to the stored score data for enabling the tonegenerator to generate tones of the music piece represented by the scoredata and the timbre data.
 18. The music reproducing apparatus accordingto claim 17, further including an index decoder that receives index datafrom the interface, the index data indicating that the timbre data is tobe transferred to the timbre data memory from the data source, and thenthe index decoder decodes the received index data to output aninstruction to the timbre data memory to write therein the timbre datawhile the interface is operated to transfer the timbre data to thetimbre data memory.
 19. A method of reproducing a music piece in atelephony terminal apparatus having a telephony function of transmittinga signal to a remote location and receiving a signal from the remotelocation, comprising the steps of: transferring timbre data from a datasource of the telephony terminal apparatus to a timbre data memorythrough an interface, and storing the transferred timbre data in thetimbre data memory, the timbre data memory having a limited capacitycapable of storing the timbre data corresponding to a predeterminednumber of timbres; reading out score data representing a music piecefrom a score data memory; setting a tone generator with the timbre datastored in the timbre data memory for generating tones of the musicpiece; and setting the tone generator with tone generating parametersaccording to the read score data for enabling the tone generator togenerate tones of the music piece represented by the score data and thetimbre data in association with the telephony function.
 20. A machinereadable medium for use in a music reproduction apparatus capable ofreproducing a musical piece in a telephony terminal apparatus having aprocessor and a telephony function of transmitting a signal to a remotelocation and receiving a signal from the remote location, the mediumcontaining program instructions executable by the processor for causingthe music reproduction apparatus to perform a method comprising thesteps of: transferring timbre data from a data source of the telephonyterminal apparatus to a timbre data memory through an interface, andstoring the transferred timbre data in the timbre data memory, thetimbre data memory having a limited capacity capable of storing thetimbre data corresponding to a predetermined number of timbres; readingout score data representing a music piece from a score data memory;setting a tone generator with the timbre data stored in the timbre datamemory for generating tones of the music piece; and setting the tonegenerator with tone generating parameters according to the read scoredata for enabling the tone generator to generate tones of the musicpiece represented by the score data and the timbre data in associationwith the telephony function.
 21. A telephony terminal apparatuscomprising: a processor that processes data to execute a task with atelephony function of transmitting a signal to a remote location andreceiving a signal from the remote location; a memory device that storesdata including music data including timbre data and score data torepresent music pieces; and a music reproduction device that operatesaccording to the music data under control by the processor to reproducea music piece in association with the task executed by the processor,wherein the music reproduction device includes: a timbre data memorythat has a limited capacity for storing transferred timbre datacorresponding to a predetermined number of timbres; an interface thatcan be operated to transfer the timbre data from the memory device tothe timbre data memory so that the timbre data memory stores thetransferred timbre data; a score data memory that stores the score datarepresenting a music piece; a tone generator that is set with tonegenerating parameters derived from the score data stored in the scoredata memory and the transferred timbre data stored in the timbre datamemory for generating tones of the music piece; and a performancecontroller that sets the tone generator with the tone generatingparameters according to the score data stored in the score data memoryfor enabling the tone generator to generate tones of the music piecerepresented by the score data and the timbre data.
 22. The telephonyterminal apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the music reproductiondevice further includes an index decoder that receives index data fromthe interface, the index data indicating that the timbre data is to betransferred to the timbre data memory from the memory device, and thenthe index decoder decodes the received index data to output aninstruction to the timbre data memory to write therein the timbre datawhile the interface is operated to transfer the timbre data to thetimbre data memory.
 23. A method of reproducing a music piece in atelephony terminal apparatus having a memory device, a musicreproduction device, and a telephony function of transmitting a signalto a remote location and receiving a signal from the remote location,comprising the steps of: storing data in the memory device, the dataincluding music data comprised of timbre data and score data torepresent music pieces; transferring the timbre data from the memorydevice of the telephony terminal apparatus to a timbre data memory ofthe music reproduction device through an interface, and storing thetransferred timbre data in the timbre data memory, the timbre datamemory having a limited capacity capable of storing the transferredtimbre data corresponding to a predetermined number of timbres; readingout the score data representing a music piece from a score data memoryof the music reproduction device; setting a tone generator of the musicreproduction device with the transferred timbre data stored in thetimbre data memory for generating tones of the music piece; and settingthe tone generator with tone generating parameters according to the readscore data for enabling the tone generator to generate tones of themusic piece represented by the score data and the transferred timbredata in association with the telephony function.
 24. A machine readablemedium for use in a telephony terminal apparatus having a processor, amemory device, a music reproduction device and a telephony function oftransmitting a signal to a remote location and receiving a signal fromthe remote location, the medium containing program instructionsexecutable by the processor for causing the telephony terminal apparatusto perform a method comprising the steps of: storing data in the memorydevice, the data including music data comprised of timbre data and scoredata to represent music pieces; transferring the timbre data from thememory device of the telephony terminal apparatus to a timbre datamemory of the music reproduction device through an interface, andstoring the transferred timbre data in the timbre data memory, thetimbre data memory having a limited capacity capable of storing thetransferred timbre data corresponding to a predetermined number oftimbres; reading out the score data representing a music piece from ascore data memory of the music reproduction device; setting a tonegenerator of the music reproduction device with the transferred timbredata stored in the timbre data memory for generating tones of the musicpiece; and setting the tone generator with tone generating parametersaccording to the read score data for enabling the tone generator togenerate tones of the music piece represented by the score data and thetransferred timbre data in association with the telephony function. 25.A method of reproducing a music piece by a telephony terminal apparatushaving a communication unit that transmits a signal to a remote locationand receives a signal from the remote location, a memory unit thatstores data including score data which represents a music piece, and amusic reproduction unit that can reproduce a music piece in associationwith the signal, the method comprising the steps of: operating aninterface of the music reproduction unit to load a part of the scoredata from the memory unit into a score data memory of the musicreproduction unit so as to store the loaded score data in the score datamemory, the score data memory having a limited space capable of storingthe part of the score data; sequentially retrieving the score data fromthe score data memory for setting a tone generator of a frequencymodulation type provided in the music reproduction unit with parametersaccording to the retrieved score data; generating harmonics by frequencymodulation of the tone generator according to the set parameters so asto synthesize a tone of the music piece based on the retrieved scoredata; and detecting when a vacant area is created in the limited spaceof the score data memory upon sequential retrieval of the score data foroperating the interface to load another part of the score data into thevacant area, thereby enabling the tone generator to continue thesynthesizing of the tones of the music piece.
 26. A method ofreproducing a music piece in a telephony terminal apparatus having atelephony function of transmitting a signal to a remote location andreceiving a signal from the remote location, comprising the step of:operating an interface to load a part of score data, which represents amusic piece, from a data source of the telephony terminal apparatus intoa score data memory so as to store the loaded score data in the scoredata memory, the score data memory having a limited space capable ofstoring the part of the score data; sequentially retrieving the scoredata from the score data memory so as to set a tone generator with avariable parameter derived from the retrieved score data forsequentially generating tones of the music piece in association with thetelephony function; and detecting when a vacant area is created in thelimited space of the score data memory upon sequential retrieval of thescore data for operating the interface to load another part of the scoredata into the vacant area, thereby enabling the tone generator tocontinue the generating of the tones of the music piece.
 27. A method ofreproducing a music piece from a telephony terminal apparatus having aprocessor that processes a data to execute a task with a telephonyfunction of transmitting a signal to a remote location and receiving asignal from the remote location, a memory device that stores dataincluding score data representative of a music piece and a musicreproduction device that operates according to the score data undercontrol by the processor to reproduce the music piece in associationwith the task, the method comprising the steps of: operating aninterface of the music reproduction device to load a part of the scoredata from the memory device of the telephony terminal apparatus into ascore data memory of the music reproduction device so as to store theloaded score data in the score data memory, the score data memory havinga limited space capable of storing the part of the score data;sequentially retrieving the score data from the score data memory so asto set a tone generator of the music reproduction device with a variableparameter derived from the retrieved score data for sequentiallygenerating tones of the music piece in association with the telephonyfunction; and notifying the processor when a vacant area is created inthe limited space of the score data memory upon sequential retrieval ofthe score data, so that the processor operates the interface to loadanother part of the score data from the memory device into the vacantarea of the limited space of the score data memory, thereby enabling thetone generator to continue the generating of the tones of the musicpiece.
 28. A machine readable medium for use in a telephony terminalapparatus having a processing unit, a communication unit that transmitsa signal to a remote location and receives a signal from the remotelocation, a memory unit that stores data including score data whichrepresents a music piece, and a music reproduction unit that canreproduce a music piece in association with the signal, the mediumcontaining program instructions executable by the processing unit forcausing the telephony terminal apparatus to perform a method comprisingthe steps of: operating an interface of the music reproduction unit toload a part of the score data from the memory unit into a score datamemory of the music reproduction unit so as to store the loaded scoredata in the score data memory, the score data memory having a limitedspace capable of storing the part of the score data; sequentiallyretrieving the score data from the score data memory for setting a tonegenerator of a frequency modulation type provided in the musicreproduction unit with parameters according to the retrieved score data;generating harmonics by frequency modulation of the tone generatoraccording to the set parameters so as to synthesize a tone of the musicpiece based on the retrieved score data; and detecting when a vacantarea is created in the limited space of the score data memory uponsequential retrieval of the score data for operating the interface toload another part of the score data into the vacant area, therebyenabling the tone generator to continue the synthesizing of the tones ofthe music piece.
 29. A machine readable medium for use in reproducing amusic piece by a telephony terminal apparatus having a processor and atelephony function of transmitting a signal to a remote location andreceiving a signal from the remote location, the medium containingprogram instructions executable by the processor for causing thetelephony terminal apparatus to perform a method comprising the step of:operating an interface to load a part of score data which represents amusic piece from a data source of the telephony terminal apparatus intoa score data memory so as to store the loaded score data in the scoredata memory, the score data memory having a limited space capable ofstoring the part of the score data; sequentially retrieving the scoredata from the score data memory so as to set a tone generator with avariable parameter derived from the retrieved score data forsequentially generating tones of the music piece in association with thetelephony function; and detecting when a vacant area is created in thelimited space of the score data memory upon sequential retrieval of thescore data for operating the interface to load another part of the scoredata into the vacant area, thereby enabling the tone generator tocontinue the generating of the tones of the music piece.
 30. A machinereadable medium for use in reproducing a music piece from a telephonyterminal apparatus having a processor that processes a data to execute atask with a telephony function of transmitting a signal to a remotelocation and receiving a signal from the remote location, a memorydevice that stores data including score data representative of a musicpiece, and a music reproduction device that operates according to thescore data under control by the processor to reproduce a music piece inassociation with the task, the medium containing program instructionsexecutable by the processor for causing the telephony terminal apparatusto perform a method comprising the steps of: operating an interface ofthe music reproduction device to load a part of the score data from thememory device of the telephony terminal apparatus into a score datamemory of the music reproduction device so as to store the loaded scoredata in the score data memory, the score data memory having a limitedspace capable of storing the part of the score data; sequentiallyretrieving the score data from the score data memory so as to set a tonegenerator of the music reproduction device with a variable parameterderived from the retrieved score data for sequentially generating tonesof the music piece in association with the telephony function; andnotifying the processor when a vacant area is created in the limitedspace of the score data memory upon sequential retrieval of the scoredata, so that the processor operates the interface to load another partof the score data from the memory device into the vacant area of thelimited space of the score data memory, thereby enabling the tonegenerator to continue the generating of the tones of the music piece.